ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Some local hospitals see a big increase in Emergency Room visits, now that the Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare, is underway.

Officials with St. Anthony’s Medical Center say they saw record patient volumes in their Emergency Department in March, April and May.

Saint Louis University Hospital has seen the same trend. Hospital president Phil Sowa says ER visits are up 12 percent, and admissions out of the ER are up 21 percent over last year.

“I think with the Affordable Care Act, people now have insurance, so they’re coming into the emergency room,” Sowa says.

Both hospitals, though, say the increase is also due in part to other issues, such as an Emergency Department redesign at St. Anthony’s and more attention paid to some sub-speciality areas at St. Louis University Hospital like cardiac care and oncology.